Firestorm
by Tattersail
Summary: My first fan-fic ever. A story about the things that happen and don't happen in X-men origins: Wolverine. More OC- and Dukes-centric than Wolverine-centric. Let me know if it's stupid, or breaks rules in some way:P I am completely new at this...
1. Chapter 1 Fraught Beginnings

**Chapter One** - Fraught Beginnings

Aurora leaned back and listened to the steady, and slightly hypnotizing, "chop-chop-chop" of the rotor blades. They were covering ground fast, which was usually the case when General Stryker was giving the orders.

Voices sounded through the din. Her team-mates getting acquainted, testing strengths and limits. The small compartment was laden with testosterone. She could see them quite clearly, even though her eyes were firmly closed. Their synapses fired electrical charges in unique patterns, creating electrical fingerprints which she could easily distinguish between, now that she had watched them for awhile. She opened her eyes to mere slits and studied them more closely. The map of their brains could only tell her so much, there was a lot more to reading people than that. Two of them were obviously soldiers, and possibly related. The younger man was ruggedly good-looking, but too short for her taste. The older one looked like trouble.

_What were their names again?_ She tried to recall if they had been mentioned. _Oh yes_. Logan and Victor.

The air thickened with tension as the guy with the blades made some comment about, swords guns… and the fingernails of a bag lady? Aurora had to keep herself from grinning widely. The guy was funny. _What was his name? Blade? No, no…Wade. _Victor, however, thought differently. The comment sent hundreds of angry little charges racing through his brain. Then they all seemed to gather and grow, ready explode at the drop of a hat. Aurora let her hand rest lightly on the hilt of the knife in her belt, ready to intercede if the Lord Push decided to shove.

A resolution to the situation came when Wraith cut through the tension like a knife. _Easy name to remember, interesting ability as well,_ she thought.

"I'm more worried about the new tattoo Dukes got."

Dukes, a big leviathan of man, looked at his tattoo and then swung his head up to look at Wraith. "This here tattoo is of the woman I love," he rumbled.

"Fred, man, how do you even know you love her? You only met her for one day."

"She's a gymnast..." Dukes replied.

Aurora couldn't keep herself from smiling and decided it was time to introduce herself. "Leave the man alone. I think it's romantic. Love at first sight and all that," Aurora said, grinning.

The guy sitting next to her jumped in his seat. he was a small fellow whose name she did not remember.

"Where the hell did you come from?" He said, almost shouting.

She shrugged, and then revealed a row of slightly crooked teeth in a wide smile, "What are you talking about? I've been here all along."

From the cockpit came the voice of General Stryker, "Team, say hello to agent Blitz. She and agent Zero have been a part of this project for some time."

Aurora nodded and greeted the other team members. She was about to say something when Wade interrupted her.

"So, agent Blitzen," he paused, "is agent Donner waiting for us at the landing site?"

Blitz leaned forward, made eye contact and said,

"Why, yes he is. How'd you know that? Donner is my brother and together we have the ability to transform into flying reindeer that can stop time. Pretty cool, eh?"

She leaned back, flashing Dukes another wide grin.

"It's Blitz, as in blitzkrieg, you dumbass," Victor growled.

His hands flexed and Blitz watched in disturbed silence as his fingernails grew into claws. Wade loosened the blades from the scabbard and the air was again heavy with tension.

Blitz looked out the round window by her head and the turned to the rest of the team.

"Hold you horses, boys. We're here."

They walked with Stryker up to what looked like a para-military compound. Blitz, making the grave error of standing next to Dukes, felt like a leprechaun.

The general turned to Blitz, "Agent, have your observations lead to any thoughts about who we should partner up together?" Stryker emphasized the word _observations_ and made a face like the whole world was filled with rotten eggs and overcooked cabbage.

Blitz bristled inside at the tone, but nodded and opened her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by none other than Wade The Mouth.

"What's this about partners? I don't need someone getting in my way."

Blitz swung her head around, gritting her teeth. "In this team we go by the buddy system. We will assign you a buddy and you two will be the bestest friends in the whole wide world for the duration of your stay with us. One more complaint and I'll put both of you on a leash like they do in kindergarten." She smiled sweetly.

He shook his head and said defiantly, "I don't take orders from you".

Blitz shrugged and turned to Stryker again before Wade had the time to say anything else, and lowered her voice, " Logan and Victor, of course. Then Wraith and Wade, Agent Zero and that little guy whose name I keep forgetting, and myself and Dukes. It's a good combination of defensive and offensive powers, and I also paired them so that each pair has one responsible, sensible member which will hopefully have some level of control over the other. It's a matter of pairing the ones who are chaos up with the ones who are order, sir."

Stryker nodded, "Very well."

Blitz took a step back as Stryker relayed her suggestions to the rest of the group. Agent Zero met the order with a dark look of resentment, knowing full well what it meant. But then, he always met orders with a look of resentment, like he was better than that. As if he felt he was the one supposed to give the orders. That sentiment was echoed by the volatile soldier Victor. The man set her teeth on edge. A giant hand thumping down on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. It also brought her out of balance. She steadied herself and looked up. Craning her neck she met Dukes' gaze and was happy to see a crooked smile flicker across his face. _He definitely should smile more often_, she thought.

"So we're partners?" He asked, his voice dark and husky. She nodded.

"Frederick J. Dukes, most people call me Dukes" he said, extending his hand.

Blitz hesitated for a second, checking that her gloves covered her hands completely before shaking his. "Aurora Winters, most people call me Blitz."

Dukes cocked his head, his blue eyes looking curious. "Why do they call you that?"

She squeezed his hand a little harder, watched the hair on his arms and head lift, and smiled. "You'll find out soon enough."

They approached the compound. The men guarding the gate were exposed of by agent Zero in quick succession. Blitz admired his handiwork, but not with as much awe as the others. She had, after all, seen it quite a few times before. She let her eyes wander over the rooftops and shadowed windows, looking for snipers. Blitz hated those sneaky, cowardly bastards, but had to admit that they were highly efficient in certain types of warfare. A sudden explosion turned her attention to ground level again. A tank, which she hadn't noticed, was blazing with fire. It looked like Dukes had stopped a tank grenade with his bare hands. _Impressive._

General Stryker moved up alongside her and nodded at the building.

"How many up there, agent Blitz?"

She looked up, focusing on the top floors, struggling to see that far. Tiny specks of bluish, pulsating lights began to take shape and move around in intricate patterns. Some lights moved fast, others were slower. Seconds passed as she identified the differences and counted them.

After a while she replied, "Twenty on the top floor and fifteen on the floor below, sir."

Stryker nodded and folded his arms across his chest. He surveyed the building, looking for suitable points of entry. There were few that wouldn't leave them riddled with bullet holes.

"Ok, agent. Take them out."

Blitz swung her head around, staring at him in wild-eyed surprise. "What? From down here?!" she blurted out.

He nodded again, not deigning to look at her.

"With all due respect, sir, that is impossible. I can't control that amount of power. I might end up frying everyone in the vicinity, including myself. Sir."

Stryker frowned and gave her a look of irritation and disappointment. "Are you disobeying my orders, agent?" His tone was that of constrained anger.

Blitz, felt, more than knew, that he was waiting for her to slip up. His posture showed tell-tale signs of a body ready to pounce, a mouth ready to berate. In the corner of her eye she could see Zero nodding his head, a sickening smirk on his face. The others had gathered nearby, well within hearing range. Certain team members looked more smug than others and had an expectant air about them. She had a feeling Stryker had been waiting for an opportunity like this. A reason to dismiss her from the team. _Because of my father. He thinks me no more than a simple spy,_ she thought, anger rising. _I'll show him._ She had to think fast, find a solution to the problem. She glanced over at Dukes and then up at the building. A thought occurred to her. Unclenching her fists she met Stryker's gaze unwavering.

"No, sir. Permission to engage the enemy in CQC, sir?" Quenching a smile as a look of utter surprise filled Stryker's face, Blitz felt immensely satisfied.

But it didn't last long until satisfaction turned into fear. She had just volunteered for what could only be described as a suicide mission. _But Stryker wouldn't permit such a preposterous thing, would he?_

"Permission granted," he said, his composure regained.

_He would. Damn, they really want to get rid of me_, she thought, resisting the urge to hide her face in her hands. Instead she smiled at him, saluted and turned to Dukes. _Time to put my trust in a man I don't even know. I'm gonna get myself killed. _

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him closer to the building, but made sure they were out of range in case the people inside decided to start shooting.

"How good is that pitching arm of yours, Dukes?" She asked while stopping to look at the building.

He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around, facing him. Blitz looked up, Dukes looked down. "What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Blitz replied, being intentionally evasive.

"You know what I'm talking about. You, Stryker, Agent Zero. Something was about get real ugly real fast between you."

Blitz looked down, sighed and pulled a hand through her dark brown hair. _Not as dumb as you look._

"It seems factions are forming in the team. Stryker, Zero and possibly Victor in one, me in the other. Stryker suspects that I'm her to spy and keep tabs on what he's doing. For my father. And not matter what I do I can't convince him otherwise. So I decided that one last suicidal effort might prove my loyalty. The funny thing is, both my father and Stryker are looking for reasons to kick me off the team."

"So, what's your plan?" She looked up, surprised by his lack of further questions, surprised by his tone. It had almost been – comforting

.

"My plan is insane."

"I'm so glad you included me then," he said wryly.

Blitz half smiled, half frowned and chewed her lip. She took a step back and then another and stopped. Breathing deeply she said,

"I want you throw me through the window up there. Second from the right." She pointed at a window that was vaguely lit on the floor below the top floor.

"Are you in - "

"Maybe just a little," Blitz interrupted, "Once inside I'll take care of the enemy, and then I'll take the elevator up and finish things."

"Why don't I just throw you through a window on the top floor?" Dukes asked.

"Can't. Windows are reinforced somehow. They won't break. Besides, the angle is all wrong. And if I go to the top floor first and you guys decide to come after in the elevator before I've cleaned out the other floor, you'll be in serious trouble. My guess is that elevator automatically stops on that floor, and then you need a password or key-card to get to the top floor. If the elevator stops there before I'm done you'll all be riddled with bullet holes before you can even say "Shit!" Some of those guys are most likely using armour piercing rounds, and some of you guys are most likely not immune to that," Blitz said, finishing her lecture.

"And you are?"

Blitz just shrugged and looked up at the second window from the right.

"You'll get yourself killed." He sounded worried, which felt strangely exciting.

"I guess flying into a building filled with gun- toting madmen is as good a way to go as any." Blitz said in a fit of gallows humour.

"I guess," he admitted. "So, you really want me to throw you up there?"

"Yup, seems like the only way to me. I doubt Victor would let me ride piggy-back."

Dukes threw his head back and roared with laughter, an act that was awarded with perplexed looks from the others. Blitz' face split in a wide grin and she couldn't help but chuckle a little. Dukes patted her on the back as he slowly stopped laughing, almost knocking the wind out of her. She drew a ragged breath and steadied herself.

"So, head first?" asked Dukes.

Blitz nodded and looked away, suddenly sombre now. Her hands were shaking. Another thought occurred to her.

"Oh, tell Zero to shoot the glass. He'll now when."

"Sure. Don't want you to ruin that pretty face of yours," he said and grabbed her by the belt.

Blitz was about to change her mind as she was violently pulled off her feet and was sent flying, head first, through the air. _Well, I've always wanted to fly_, she thought, watching the concrete wall come closer at a terrifying speed. The window seemed like an awfully small target and the glass was still intact. _Shoot it, shoot it now goddammit!_

**A/N: **Fixed the paragraphs and some typos. Thanks Werden and Lunn.

I really appreciate constructive criticism, so feel free to give me some


	2. Chapter 2 Into the Fray

**Chapter Two - Into the Fray**

She was inches away from the window when pain lanced through her skull and the glass finally shattered. The bullet had grazed her temple. _Too close. Too fucking close, Zero._ Diving into the window she dipped her shoulder, executed a perfect landing and rolled to her feet in the midst of four burly men dressed in green combats, black boots and carrying AK-47s. Blitz had unsheathed her knives mid-roll and the tallest of the men didn't even have time to look surprised before his throat was sliced clean through. He fell backwards, gargling and twitching. The hilts of the knives felt good in her hands, the grip perfectly adjusted, the blade perfectly balanced. The steel gleamed in the moonlight as another soldier faced the Abyss, violently stabbed in the heart, the sleek edge piercing the bulletproof west as if it wasn't even there. Warm blood gushed over her hands and splashed her boots. She didn't have the time to wipe it off. _Two down, thirteen more to go._

The room was square, empty save for crates full of smuggler's goods, tables turned on their sides, some chairs, bottles on the floor and the coulmns that supported the ceiling. It reeked of cigars and sweat, and the sharp smell of gun powder. In the back was an office of sorts, which is where the light came from. It looked empty to her.

The soldiers were now past the initial stage of surprise and were getting more organized. Fortunately for Blitz, they organized themselves in tight little clusters, some hiding behind whatever offered protection, readying their weapons. In a second or two, bullets would fly. The third man went down, blood spewing out of his severed jugular. Without turning around Blitz drove her elbow up and into the last man's throat, crushing his trachea. Before his body hit the floor Blitz was moving towards the nearest cluster, blades out and ready.

She ran towards a bearing column and used it to launch herself in the air. She whipped her knives up and around, and the fifth and sixth man got a knife through the eye. She quickly withdrew the knives, a sickening wet sound accompanying the withdrawal, and thrust a knife into a short, round man's arm pit as he raised his arm to take a swing at her with a machete. The machete dropped to the ground with a loud clang and the man stumbled off, trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood from the punctured vein in his arm pit. Realizing that their rifles were useless in this situation the soldiers pulled out machetes and broad bladed knives with serrated edges. The situation was getting ugly fast. Blitz struggled to avoid all the chops and blows that now rained down upon her, but somehow managed to always jump clear in the last second. A giant man came up behind her, surprisingly stealthy for a man of his size, and nearly took her head off with a brutal-looking kukri knife. She could feel the edge swooshing through her hair as she twisted, dropped to one knee and slashed up and to the side. Using the momentum of the slash, she rolled to the side and gained her feet in time to see what had happened to the giant. The man had taken the knife to his gut and through a broad gash his innards tumbled out and quickly became his outards.

The sight of the steaming pile of intestines on the floor brought back some unpleasant memories of missions in Sudan and Uganda.

_We hit village after village, looking for those son of a bitch guerrilla terrorists, and every time we were too late. Each time the stench of scorched earth and putrefied flesh hit us our hearts grew a little smaller, a little darker. They always left a calling card; women and children out in the dirt streets, cut open and strangled with their own intestines. I never could bear to think about what else had been done to them. When we finally found them we didn't bring them in before a court. We dealt out our own personal brand of justice. A river of blood._

Her moment of reminiscence earned her a rifle butt to the face. She fell down bellowing with rage and pain, clutching her broken nose. Blood flowed freely from it. A kick to the gut sent her sprawling. Moaning, she tried to get up, but realized, as they converged on her, that it was futile. A kick to the head emphasized the point. Blitz rolled on to her back and drew her knees towards her chest, in an attempt to protect her major organs. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain as the beating started for real. The soldiers had put down their guns and knives and were using their fists and feet to inflict as much damage as possible. It was personal now.

_These guys are just like them_, she thought. _I remember their smiles. Only seven left. I can do this. _Blitz pulled off her kevlar gloves, with strands of rubber woven into the fabric, and clenched her fists. A low humming filled the room. The lights in the office flickered. The soldiers felt the sound resonate within their own bodies, felt their every cell vibrate in tune. The looks on their faces changed from cruel joy to deep uncertainty. One of them backed away. Blitz smiled and unclenched her fists. Raw power exploded outwards in blinding, brilliant blue flash, the concussive force and following shock wave shattering all the windows. The power surged through her hapless victims, boiling the blood in their veins, sending the neural transmitters in their brains into a frenzy, short-circuting the whole system. The heat and the pressure inside their bodies caused their eyes to burst, the milky liquid streaked with blood running down their faces, and their bowels to involuntarily loosen. It was a horrible way to die.

Outside the rest of the team was momentarily blinded as a bright blue flash erupted in the room, making the windows explode outwards. It was as if lightning had struck inside the building.

"And that's why we call her Blitz," Stryker said, a flicker of a smile one his stern face, nodding to himself. That power never got old.

"That gives a whole new meaning to 'The Shocker'," Wade said, earning him a round of laughs from the other men.

"Ok, let's head on up," Stryker ordered, and headed towards the building at a fast paced walk.

Upstairs, Blitz was checking the bodies, making sure they were all dead. Fifteen men killed, their blood and bile staining her hands. Yet she felt no remorse, no guilt. These men had posed a threat, and she had removed it. Pure and simple. She felt no joy either. Killing was not something she liked. But she took pride in a job well done. A smile crossed her lips, and a disturbing light flickered to life in her remarkable grey eyes. _Yes, I take pride in that._

A movement in the corner of her eye made her quickly twist and duck, barely avoiding having her head blown off. Blitz stared in disbelief at her shoulder, where blood now poured out of dime-sized hole. The bullet had hit her right where the bullet-proof west ended, and gone straight through. She looked up and saw two men taking aim at her. They wore helmets that looked like remnants from the Second World War. _Impossible! I counted fifteen. _She quickly dove for the nearest column, but wasn't quick enough. Another bullet pierced her skin and buried itself in the large muscles of her right thigh. _Fuck!_ She landed behind the column and reached for her knives, but realized she had left them on the floor a few feet away. _Double fuck!_

She didn't have enough strength left to take them out from behind the column. She stood up and peeked around the corner. They fired, pelting the concrete with steel. She spun around and attacked them from the other side. In the matter of seconds she had closed the gap between them, the air filled with a buzzing hum. She dodged the rifle pointed at her and slammed her open hand against the man's forehead. His eyes rolled back into his head as he fell down, twitching violently and foaming at the mouth. The other man, a scarred and pockmarked fellow, managed to get off a few rounds before he too fell to the floor, vomiting and writhing.

Blitz's breathing was ragged; exhaustion overtaking her now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off. She counted the bodies again. There were 17 of them. But that didn't make any sense. She was sure she had only counted 15. _What the fuck is going on?_

Her right leg trembled as she hobbled around the room, looking for more hidden surprises, something she had never had to do before. Bending down to pick up her knives and gloves her leg froze and Blitz grunted in pain. She would have to get the bullet out before she continued up to the top floor. She wiped the blades on a dead soldier's shirt and sheathed them, tucked the gloves behind her belt. She straightened and looked around the room for a suitable place to perform a small operation. The elevator floor indicator light came on and Blitz swore. Stryker and the team were already on their way up. Blitz turned around and limped towards the office in the back. A small, red box stood on the floor by a desk and she scrambled towards it. She stumbled to her knees in front of it, groaning, and lifted the lid up with shaking fingers. It was a cooler, like she had hoped, filled with ice cubes and bottles of water. Grabbing one she pressed it against her swollen face. When her face was sufficiently numb she placed her fingers along the sides of her nose and pushed. It popped back into place with a loud crack, the sudden pain bringing tears to her eyes. She grabbed another bottle and pressed it against her face, opening the first one and taking a sip. It tasted clean and fresh. It washed away the taste of iron in her mouth. Looking up she saw that the elevator was only two floors away.

Blitz quickly poured the water on her face and then wiped it with some documents she found on the desk. She struggled to get on her feet and then hobbled as fast as she could over to the elevator. The room hummed as Blitz tried desperately to keep the blood from pumping out of the wound. There was a muted "pling" and then the doors slowly opened.

What met them when the elevator doors opened was no one else than the Herald of Death. The light from the elevator slowly illuminated the room, revealing Blitz, eyes dark, face pale and drawn under a mask of blood. Clothes, boots and knife hilts glistening wetly. And behind her, a killing field. The stench of burned flesh and other, worse things made them flinch. Wade covered his nose.

"Jesus…" Chris whispered. She finally remembered his name.

As Blitz approached, the elevator was filled with humming, and the hairs on their arms and heads lifted.

"Agent, gloves on. Now," Stryker said, clearly bothered by the static electricity that now filled the elevator.

Blitz swung her head around and looked at him, darkly. "Why? I am not yet done."

"Wade's up next. You've earned your…rest," Stryker replied.

"What's he gonna do? Talk them to death?" Blitz said, before shrugging and donning her gloves. The humming stopped and the electrically charged air turned normal. Someone sighed in relief. She went to the back of the elevator and stood next to Dukes. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, struggling to stand upright. The area around the entry wound had gone numb.

"That's an awful lot of blood, agent Blitz," agent Zero said, barely hiding his satisfaction.

Blitz looked at him through slitted eyes and replied, "None of it mine, agent."

"I think you missed a spot," Wade said and gestured at her face. "There's a spot right there," he pointed at her left eyebrow, "that you've not covered in blood. Sloppy."

Blitz just shook her head and closed her eyes again. The elevator stopped and Stryker gave Wade a nod. He readied his blades. The door opened and he stepped out. She opened one eye, curious to see what he could do. The men in the room, Blitz counted twenty, started firing the minute the doors opened. Wade deftly reflected the bullets with his swords, sending them richocheting this way and that, finding human targets. He leapt into the air and chopped the final two henchmen to pieces. Ninteen men dead in less than two minutes. Blitz had to admit that she was impressed, and ever so slightly envious. Clearing that room would've taken her much longer. _So much for grand gestures. Fuck._

"Okay, people are dead," Wade called out and the others left the elevator.

Blitz slumped and slid down onto the floor, her leg shaking uncontrollably. She rummaged through the various pockets in her pants and on her standard-issue military belt and withdrew a pair of large, surgical tweezers and some surgical tubing. _Shit, out of bandages._

"You've been shot," Dukes rumbled, his Texan accent thick.

"Shhh, not so loud," Blitz hissed, and prodded the wound with her gloved fingers. "I need to get this bullet out before the muscles heal around it. I really don't want that. Fortunately,the other one went straight through. But I've lost a lot of blood."

Dukes crouched down next to her and said, "I thought you could heal."

"I can, just not very fast," she replied.

"How did you manage to get shot anyway? Stryker said you were super fast, super strong and had regnerative powers." Dukes cocked his head and looked at her.

Blitz looked down. "I may have exagerrated just a little. But I wouldn't have made it one the team if not. Protecting our country is a dangerous and difficult job, and if a bullet to the head is gonna kill you, you ain't fit for it. Besides, I don't have to run faster than the bear chasing me, only faster than the guy running next to me." She gave him a lopsided grin.

"And you can't let them see you bleed. Any weakness you reveal will be used against you later. That's just the way it is here. Vulnerability is a big no-no," she said, sounding resigned.

"Who are them?" Dukes asked.

"Them," Blitz nodded towards the room outside, "our superiors. Those who are not like us. Them."

"You're paranoid," he grunted.

"Maybe. And perhaps a little pessimistic. But it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Now, tear me some strips of your shirt, this bullet is coming out," she said, holding out her hand.

Dukes blinked, a little surprised, and then tore long strips of his shirt and handed them to her. She laid them across her thigh, before pressing down around the wound and inserting the tweezers. She poked around a little until she heard the sound of metal scraping agains metal. A little more fidgeting and she had firm hold on it. Pulling the tweezers slowly out of her leg, she exhaled loudly. The bullet was whole, which was very good. Blood started welling out of the wound and Blitz proceeded to jam it full of strips of cloth before fastening the whole thing by tying surgical tubing tight around her tigh. It was a bit cumbersome working the tubing around her leg beneath her pants, but she pulled it off without showing too much skin. She stuffed the hole in her shoulder with pieces of cloth as well, minimizing the bleeding.

"There," she said, scrambling to her feet, placing the bullet in Dukes' open hand. "Something to remember me by," she added with a crooked grin. It wasn't a minute too late, for the rest of the team now returned to the elevator. Blitz stumbled, still weak from the blood loss, and was about to fall on her face when Dukes grabbed her belt and held her upright.

She leaned over and whispered, "Thanks...partner."

He shrugged, but she could detect a hint of a smile. Turning to Wade she said, "That's quite a move, Wade. What do you call it? The Windmill?"

"It's actually the Awesome Whirlwind of Fury, but nice try," he replied.

"Anyway, Don Quixote might not tell the difference, so I'll give you a head's up if I see him," Blitz said, barely containing her laughter.

The elevator went down, and Blitz could tell from the look on Stryker's face that he had gotten what he came for.


	3. Chapter 3 Are We Friends Now?

**Chapter 3 - So Are We Friends Now?**

**A/N: **I've tried to introduce some Texan into Duke's speech, so it'll be easier to tell them apart when they talk. I'll go back and do this to the previous chapters as well, unless it's lame and should be removed:P If you have any suggestions about how I can improve my dialogue, please don't hesitate to let me know.

This chapter did not turn out as I expected. I had more action planned, but I realized the chapter would be insanely long if I included it, so I'm splitting it up. This chapter is sort of an intermission, a time-out to get to know the characters better...I'll be quiet now and let you read:P

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They were back in the chopper, which had re-fuelled, and once again Blitz rested her head against the wall, eyes closed. The steady rhythm of the rotor blades was even more hypnotic now that she was exhausted and weak from blood loss. There was a dull aching in her thigh, and an annoying itch in her shoulder. It was already healing, the flesh and muscles knitting together, bridging the gap, so to speak. She scratched it absentmindedly. It would be so easy to fall asleep now.

Someone nudged her shoulder and Aurora's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, and then she wiped her mouth. No drool there. _Thank God._Looking around the cramped passenger hold of the helicopter she noticed that people were looking at her.

"What?" She said, worried she had said something embarrassing in her sleep.

"No offense, kid," Wade began, "but you look like hell."

Aurora felt her face go warm and was happy it was covered in blood, hiding her embarrassment. _Shit, totally forgot about that,_ she thought and touched her face gingerly. Her fingers came away red. She sighed and tried to regain the upper hand, and save…face.

"What do you mean? This look is all the rage with the kids today," Aurora replied, looking indignant.

"It looks like you went in there and bludgeoned those assholes to death with your face."

Looking up at Wade she said, "I call it... The Face of Death. It has proven to be very effective, and highly efficient. Two things that make generals all warm and fuzzy inside. Granted, it's not as elegant or graceful as your Awesome Whirlwind of Fury, but we can't all be artists."

"I am quite good," Wade agreed.

"Yes," Aurora smiled. "Some of those jumps were very impressive. So perfectly executed. Did you, by any chance, take ballet lessons as a kid?"

The hold erupted with laughter as Wade opened his mouth to reply, and then realized what she had asked. He shut his mouth with a loud "clack". Even Victor looked amused.

"Man, you walked right into that one," Wraith said, and elbowed his partner in the ribs.

Blitz grinned and got up, making her way over to where their standard military-issue backpacks were stored. She rummaged through hers for a few minutes before finding what she was looking for; her survival kit. She opened up the bag of necessities and took out a small handheld mirror, and wet towels; the kind one got in tiny little packets on airplanes. She sat down with her back turned against the rest of the team and looked in the mirror. Her face was still a little swollen and covered in patches of dry and drying blood._I do look like hell…jeez._Blitz started scrubbing her face. It took awhile.

Her leg protested heavily when she straightened and her shoulder itched like hell, telling her that the healing had begun. Her wounds healed from the outside in, the skin first forming a thin membrane to stop the loss of blood. The rest of the wound then healed layer by layer. She put the mirror and the survival kit back in the backpack, and slowly walked back to her seat.

She eased herself down between Dukes and Chris.

"So, any word on where it is we're going?" She asked no one in particular.

Logan told her and a broad smile spread across her oval face.

"That's in the jungle, right?"

Logan nodded and said, "What's with the smile there, kid?"

"Oh, don't get her started on that, please. She'll never shut up about it. It'll be like having two Wades," Zero said and scowled at Blitz.

Wade feigned shock and hurt feelings and Blitz ignored Zero, who was now rolling his eyes and looking more pissed off than ever.

"I just like it there. The temperature and the humidity amplify my power. It's insane, really. I can snap my fingers," she snapped her fingers, "and whole villages…gone," she said, moving her small, delicate hand as if wiping a slate clean.

"And have you? Snapped your fingers, I mean?" Chris asked, a slight twitch to the corner of his mouth.

Blitz regarded him in silence before replying: "A couple of times. We were looking to take out a huge drug cartel in the Amazon. I was doing recon when I was ambushed. I did what I did back there, only this time the result was devastating. When Stryker found out about it he decided to send me in alone from then on. Much safer. Well, for them anyway."

She shrugged and pulled the corner of her mouth up in a crooked grin, "Don't worry, though. I'll keep the gloves on this time. Last time, a satellite picked up on my 'activities'. Caused quite a stir in D.C. Don't know how Stryker managed to cover it, but he did."

"Satellites picked it up? Holy sh...," Chris said and leaned back, shaking his head.

"As I said; I'll keep the gloves on this time around. I'll just have to find other ways to have fun," she sighed.

"Yeah, like kicking baby tigers in the face and cutting down trees," Wade exclaimed and brandished one of his swords.

"There are no fucking tigers in Africa," Victor growled, "you goddam moron!"

"No? Probably because little Ms. Lightning Bolt over there threw a tantrum and electrocuted them all," said Wade and smiled at Blitz.

Blitz felt an irrational anger rise at Wade's accusations and blatant disrespect. She was exhausted and her patience was wearing thin. Blitz blurted out the first thing that popped up in her head.

"Fuck you, Wade. I would never hurt animals, how can you even say that?" Blitz realized her mistake too late, as they stared at her in shock. Revealing emotions and irrational behaviour like that was never a good idea.

"To hell with you. I'm going to bed. Good night!"

She stomped the few feet over to the backpacks, pulled hers out and threw it down. She lay down on the floor, her back to the others, used her backpack for a pillow and closed her eyes.

"And that's why they didn't allow women in the army in the good old days," Victor sneered, which earned him a smile from Wade and Zero, and a shake of the head from Logan.

"That's mah pardner you're talkin' about there," Dukes said, his voice like distant thunder, his accent like gravel in her ears.

"So?" Wade said.

"So, the girl's all tuckered out and y'all need to back off and cut her some slack," Dukes replied, the thunder getting closer.

"And if we don't?" Wade asked.

"If you don't," Dukes said and leaned forward, the chopper groaning in protest at the shift in weight. Blitz was amazed the chopper managed to take off at all with him on it. "Ah'll beat you like a rented mule."

"Whoa, Dukes man, no need to get physical. Especially not for you, if you get my drift. I'm sure it was all a joke among buddies, right?" Wraith said, swinging his head from Victor to Wade.

Victor shrugged and Wade raised his hands as if he was entirely unblameable for the situation.

"Yeah, sure," he said," just a joke. What's with the violent attitude, Dukie?"

"We call it loyalty where Ah come from," Dukes said, and leaned back. The chopper creaked.

"And what has that sneaky little bitch done to deserve your loyalty, soldier?" hissed Zero, still pouting in his corner.

"The girl let herself be thrown several stories up into a room filled with armed men to make sure we wasn't shot on our way up. Ah say that earned mah respect and mah loyalty. Which is more than Ah can say about y'all," Dukes said, glaring at Zero.

"It's not that impressive when you've got like super-healing powers," Wade said, but quickly retracted his statement when Dukes turned to glare at him. He slowly made a fist of his over-sized hand, the joints popping with loud cracks as he did so.

Half asleep, Blitz smiled.

---------------------------------------------------

The whole chopper creaked some time later when Dukes manouvred his considerable bulk into the cargo hold. He found his backpack and followed Blitz' example.

Laying down, his head not too far from hers, he said, "Hey, are you asleep?"

"Yes," she replied without turning around. She could hear him chuckle behind her.

"How's your leg?" he asked.

"Better," Blitz replied. "Sorry about your shirt," she added.

"Don't worry about it. Ah gladly sacrifice it to rescue a damsel in distress."

"Damsel in distress?!" Blitz said, finally turning around, incredulity written across her face.

"You know, you're real talkative for someone who's supposed to be asleep," Dukes said, ignoring her outburst.

Blitz just shook her head and mumbled, "Yeah, just be glad I don't like to shock people in my sleep."

Dukes chuckled again and rolled onto his back. Blitz did the same and they lay staring into the ceiling together, listening to the sounds of the rest of the team, who were all sleeping soundly.

"So, why'd you think they call him agent Zero?" Dukes asked.

Blitz turned her head a fraction and lowered her voice, "Probably because Agent Stick Up His Ass didn't command as much respect."

Blitz could feel Dukes shaking with repressed laughter and grinned.

"But seriously," she said, sounding serious, "I think he...negates things. So don't let him touch you with his bare hands. Notice that he always wears gloves, just like me."

"Ah'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the heads up," he replied.

"Don't mention it, partner. By the way, thanks for sticking up for me earlier. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it, partner. It's what friends do," Dukes said.

"So we are friends now?" Blitz asked.

"We're havin' a sleepover and pillow talkin'. Ah'd say that makes us friends," he replied and gave her a friendly nudge in the ribs.

"I guess you're right," she said, laughing.

"So, how exactly did Stryker find you?"

"It was a couple of years ago, my power was starting to manifest for real, and I kept zapping people left and right, causing power fluctuations and black-outs. I caused a man to experience an epileptic seizure when Stryker saw me. He gave me pretty much the same speech he probably gave you guys, and I was so relieved that finally someone understood me that I enlisted straight away. Under a false name, of course. It all worked out fine until I ran into my father in the HQ. It all basically went to hell from there," she said.

"What's the big deal with your pa, anyway?" Dukes asked.

"My dad's general Winters and he belongs to the nano-technology department of the army. Him and Stryker are competing for the same funding and resources, and Stryker believes I'm looking for grave errors and misjudgements that can lead to his project being shut down. I would never do that. Who knows where I'd be without Stryker and the opportunities he's given me?"

"Ah'm sure he'll come around and realize that," he said.

"Thanks, Dukes. Now, perhaps we should get some sleep? Tomorrow will probably be a long day," Blitz replied.

"Yeah, probably. Good night, Aurora."

"Good night, Frederick," she said and closed her eyes.

Moments later they were both asleep.


	4. Chapter 4 Sabotage

**A/N: **_This chapter is long. Things just kept cropping up:P I would really love some feedback on this since I'm past the point where I actually know what's going to happen. The only things I saw clearly before I started writing were the first two chapters, some things leading up to the ending and the ending itself. So everything in between I make up as I go along._

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter ****4 – Sabotage**

Blitz woke up with the feeling that something was not quite right. She looked around, everyone was asleep, their blue specks and dots moving in lazy patterns. She counted eight distinct patterns. Blitz counted again, still eight.

"Not again," she mumbled and climbed to her feet, still a little drowsy.

Bracing herself she walked carefully down towards the cockpit. Looking back to where she had come from, Blitz blinked and shook her head. She had walked downwards, which was odd since they were in a helicopter. The chopper buckled and tossed Blitz forward, sending her crashing into steel and mesh. She was immediately pelted by backpacks and boots, things that had not been securely fastened, or unfastened in order to make space for sleeping. Blitz swore and crawled out of the heap of debris.

"Wake up, guys. We have a problem," she said loud enough to wake a sleeping bear, amazed at how they could still be asleep.

"The only problem here is you, waking us up," Wade said and stretched before flexing his muscles.

Blitz stared a little longer than she needed to. He was quite handsome, if he could just learn to keep his mouth shut.

"No. I believe we are about to crash. So buckle up!"

She hurried over to her seat and squeezed in between Dukes, who had just sat down, and Chris, who was looking rather bewildered.

"You're not serious, are you? We're not going to crash, right?" Chris asked and looked at her.

"Yup, I am, and yes we are. I can't see the pilot, which means he is either dead or has already abandoned ship. The chopper is plummeting and will probably start spinning soon. I suggest you strap yourself in," she replied and started fastening the harness that was attached to the wall. It would keep her firmly in place, unless something unexpected happened.

As if on cue the helicopter started spinning uncontrollably. Through the small windows Blitz could see the ground coming up to meet them. The chopper creaked and with each turn it made a strange whooshing sound. The rest of the team had all found their places and were now strapped in. All that was left now was to wait. Blitz closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable impact that would most likely destroy large parts of the chopper, and very likely kill some of them. Chris, Wade, Wraith and herself were in the danger zone, the others had nothing to worry about, from what Stryker had reluctantly told her about them. Hopefully, Dukes would absorb the worst of it. Although she didn't fear death, she did feel some regret that the time ha already come. _Just when things were starting to get interesting. This sucks._

The chopper hit the ground nose first. It did not cave in. To Blitz's surprise the nose lifted and the chopper jumped into the air before crashing into the ground again. It slid along the ground for a few moments and then it stopped. Blitz looked around and saw that everyone was as astonished as she. Blitz got out of the harness and out of her seat and exited the chopper.

"What the hell?" said Blitz and looked around.

Stretched before her were miles and miles of rolling sand dunes, and in the sky the sun burned like a furnace. She shielded her eyes from the blinding light and looked around again. The desert seemed unending.

"Where are we," Dukes rumbled as he came up alongside her.

"I have no idea," she replied.

Blitz turned to Logan as he excited the chopper with the others.

"I thought you said the village was in the jungle?"

Logan looked around, looked at the helicopter and then scratched his chin.

"I did," he said.

"Then why are we in the fucking desert?!" Victor interjected, his large hulking form looming over Logan, who shrugged, unimpressed by his brother's bulk.

Victor turned around and walked briskly over to Zero, covering the distance with three long strides. He bent down and carried a hushed conversation with the agent, who then nodded his head in Blitz's general direction. Victor straightened, turned on his heel and leapt into the air. He had Blitz pinned against the chopper, his hand closing around her throat before she even noticed that he had moved.

"Why don't we ask little Miss Know-It-All here," he growled and slammed her head against the chopper.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Blitz gasped, struggling to free herself from Victor's iron grip.

"Don't play this game with me, spy. Your father wants what Stryker is after so he sabotaged us," Victor said, his rank breath a warm wind on her face.

"I was on the bloody chopper too, you Neanderthal! Do you really think he would shoot down a chopper with his own daughter onboard?" Blitz croaked, black specks dancing before her eyes. She tried to pry his hand away, but that only made him squeeze harder.

"You have healing powers, don't you?" He replied, smiling.

_Fuck_, Blitz thought. _He's right. _She blinked at Victor, trying to focus, trying to gather her thoughts to form something coherent. She needed to say something, needed to prove that at least she was innocent. _But dad would never do something like that. He would never intentionally put me in harms way. Right?_

"Put her down, Victor," someone said in the distance. It sounded like Dukes, but could easily be Logan.

Victor turned around to face whomever had spoken, bringing her with him, which left her back clear of the chopper. Blitz drew her feet up towards her body, which now dangled in the air supported only by Victor's hand around her throat. With one last surge of strength Blitz drew her legs fully up, placed her feet against his chest and kicked herself into a back flip. His claws raked through the thin skin of her throat, leaving red gashes on either side. She landed on her feet, twin knives out and ready. Her vision cleared enough to see Victor regain his feet and then throw himself at her. Blitz dodged and rolled to the side, catching Victor with a back- handed slash. She reversed the grip on her knives and stood firm, waiting for Victor's next move. Her breathing came in ragged, shallow gasps and the sun was wreaking havoc on her temperature. All black attire was not a good idea in the desert.

"Is it wrong of me to be turned on by this?" Wade said as he stood watching them from the sideline.

Blitz turned her head a fraction and looked at him. He winked and blew her a kiss. Laughter bubbled up as she shook her head, and she straightened and sheathed the knives.

"You are a pervert, Wade," she said between peals of laughter and shook her head again.

Out of the corner of her eye Blitz could see Victor lounge for her and she instinctively flinched away. Victor was stopped mid-lounge, however, by Dukes, who then slammed him to the ground.

"Don't make me sit on you. Didn't Ah tell you to leave her alone?"

"The little bitch cut me!" He growled and tried to get away from Dukes.

"So? You have healin' powers don't you?" Dukes replied.

Confident that Dukes had everything under control Blitz turned around and found Zero staring at her, his feelings towards her displayed on his face. She bared her teeth and made as if to remove her gloves. Zero flinched. She ached to take her gloves off for that man, but refrained. Stryker would kick her off the team for sure if she did that. Looking around she realized Stryker wasn't there, and hadn't been at all. _No wonder he didn't stop Victor. He's not here!_

"Hey, have any of you seen Stryker?" she said.

They all looked around then shook their heads. Blitz ran to the chopper and looked into the cockpit. The pilot and Stryker were both there, sitting with their eyes closed and heads lolled to the side. There was blood on both of them. She tried the door but it was jammed shut. She went around the chopper and tried the other door. Same result.

"He's in here! Alive, but unconscious. The pilot is…well, I'm not sure what the hell he is," she shouted and waved Dukes over.

"I can't get the door open," she said and looked at Dukes.

"No problem. Step aside, little lady," Dukes replied, grinned, and pushed her out of the way.

Dukes pulled the door off its hinges and threw it over his head as if it was made of cardboard. He reached in and grabbed both the pilot and Stryker and gently pulled them out of the chopper. He placed them on a shaded patch of sand. Blitz kneeled down and examined them.

"Stryker's gonna be out for awhile, he might have sustained serious brain damage, but we won't know for sure until he wakes up," Blitz said without looking up. She could tell by the number of boots that two team members had joined them. It was Logan and Chris, judging by their patterns. She looked at the pilot again; there was something weird going on there.

"Don't know about the pilot, though. I can see that he's breathing, but I'm not getting any brain-activity…"

Chris bent down and removed the pilot's helmet. "How about now?"

Small blue lights flickered into life, although faint and fading.

"What the hell?" Blitz said and looked up at Chris. An idea occurred to her. "Put the helmet on, will you?"

Chris obliged and instantly his lights winked out.

"Clever bastards," she mumbled and took the helmet from Chris. She gave it to Dukes.

"Here, you try."

Dukes put it on and the same thing happened.

"Sons of bitches!" Blitz said and stood up.

Dukes gave her the helmet back and she examined it closely, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. Just an ordinary pilot's helmet. Just like those thugs from the compound had worn ordinary WW2-looking helmets.

"Looks like a normal helmet to me," Logan said and scratched his scruffy, three-day beard.

"Yeah, but it isn't," Blitz replied and turned the helmet over and over in her hands. "They've figured out a way to block me, to keep me in the dark, so to speak. I don't like it."

The sound of a man struggling to breathe brought them around. Blitz hurried over to the pilot and knelt beside his head.

"Ah, shit. He's dying," she said and bent down so that her face was inches away from his.

"Who gave the order?" She whispered into his ear. He gargled and coughed blood and clung to her like a child as he drew his last breath. And just as he expired Blitz thought she heard him utter a single word.

_Winters_.

"What did he say?" Dukes asked.

"I don't know. I couldn't hear him," she replied and stood up. _God damn it, dad. What the hell are you up to? _She thought and turned to Chris.

"So, think you can get the chopper going again?" asked she.

He shrugged and entered the cockpit. Seconds later there was a muffled bang, a yelp and then smoke rose from the main console. Chris came out of the chopper with a startled look on his face and short half an eyebrow.

"It's been tampered with, and the radio is completely fried," he said.

Blitz rubbed at her eyes and sighed before looking up at Logan. "So, what do you suggest we do?"

"Yer asking me?"

"Yeah, you're the commanding officer now that Stryker is…indisposed," Blitz replied. "But just keep in mind that Zero and I do not fall under your jurisdiction. Now, I won't be a problem, but he might," she added as an afterthought.

"Well," he said, "we'll make a stretcher for Stryker, strip the chopper of anything useful and head for civilization."

Blitz and Dukes nodded and set to work. Blitz pulled out all the backpacks, supplies and water she could find, Dukes pulled out harnesses, wires and drained whatever fuel was left in the chopper into suitable containers. He then proceeded to rip out structural support beams from the chopper and straightening them. Blitz paused to watch him work and a wide grin spread across her face. All the ripping and tearing seemed effortless, but he worked up a sweat anyhow. Blitz attributed that to the blistering heat. Dukes looked up and caught her staring at him.

"What are you grinnin' for?" He asked.

Blitz looked away, a heat not caused by the sun rising in her cheeks. "So what do you need those beams for?" She said, changing the subject.

"For the stretcher. Ah reckon we gotta carry him for some time," he replied.

He was about to say something else when a strong gust of wind filled the chopper with sand, making the grains dance and gleam in the sunlight. Tears welled up in her eyes as a fit of coughing racked through her. Through the blur she could see Chris pop his head in and wave them outside.

"You better come see this," he said and disappeared.

Dukes looked at her and she shrugged before heading out of the chopper. The air outside was heavy with sand and Blitz covered her mouth and nose with her hands, to ease her breathing.

"What the hell is that?" Dukes asked as he stared at what Chris had wanted them to see.

"Now _that's_ what I call an Awesome Whirlwind of Fury," Blitz said and sent Wade a smug smirk.

Before them was a churning pillar of sand weaving through the desert, whipping up sand as it went along, growing increasingly bigger. It had now grown so massive it blocked out the sun, its light filtering through the sand making it look like it was on fire. The wind picked up.

"It's headed right for us, isn't it?" Chris asked and shielded his face from the wind that was now whipping sand into his face.

"Looks like it," Blitz replied.

"Alright," Logan cut in, "let's find something to cover up our faces with and then something to hold on to. Put your backpacks on for extra weight. This might get rough. Dukes?"

"Yeah," the big man replied.

"Take care of Stryker. We don't want him blowing away," Logan ordered.

Dukes nodded and lumbered away. Blitz quickly found her backpack and rummaged through it. _Don't say I forgot to pack it, _she though as her hands fumbled around inside it. Her fingers brushed against soft cloth and she smiled. _Gotcha! _She thought and pulled it out. It was a beige and black shemag, which she quickly wrapped around her face and head, leaving only a small slit for her eyes. Hurrying over to the cockpit, she grabbed the dead pilot's goggles with tinted glass and put them on. When she exited the chopper the whirlwind was almost on top of them.

"Holy shit," she shouted as a particularly strong gust of wind sent her sprawling in front of Wade.

"What, falling for me already?" he said, a cocky grin splitting his face in two. "Come on, Blitzy-Bunny, I thought you'd be more of a challenge than that."

Blitz glowered at him and felt a childish urge to kick him in the shin. _Blitzy-Bunny? I'm so getting you back for that one. _She refrained, however, as it wouldn't be very professional, and climbed to her feet. The winding was howling and bearing down on them, tearing at their hair and clothing. Every inch of her was covered with clothing, not even a tiny patch of skin was exposed to the whirling sand that was now travelling at a terrible speed. She could see through her tinted goggles that Wade, arrogant as he was, had not covered up and was now suffering for it. _Good. _The wind suddenly abated and Blitz saw that Dukes had come. He was taking most of the heat off of her, giving her a chance to gather her strength for what was to come.

"You better hold on tight," he roared, the wind snatching up his words as soon as they left his mouth

Blitz grabbed his belt and held on tight as the howling changed pitch and the entire fury of the whirlwind descended upon them. The wind pushed and pulled at her, battered her violently. A loud yelp escaped her lips as she felt her feet lift from the ground. The wind drew her eagerly upwards, putting enormous strain on her arms, loosening her grip on Duke's belt. _Shit! I'm not gonna be in Kansas anymore very soon. _Blitz held on to his belt by her fingertips and watched them slip, one by one. For a second she was weightless and then her breath was knocked out of her when she thudded to the ground. The pulling and prodding had ceased. They were in the eye.

"That was fucking close," Blitz said shakily and brushed sand off her clothes. The hair on her arms and neck wanted to stand on end. The constant friction created by the whirlwind had charged the air.

"We aren't in the clear yet," Logan said and gestured towards the churning wall of sand.

The eye was not big and it was getting smaller.

"That will grind us all to dust before we can even try to breach it…like sandpaper," Wraith said and shook his head.

"Yeah, probably. It was nice knowing most of you," Blitz replied, staring into the oncoming storm. There was something moving in there, something that was not supposed to be there at all. "Anywho," she said, "I think we can stop it. It's not like it's a real whirlwind or anything."

"Don't be so fucking cryptic," Victor growled.

"There's a mutant in there. Controlling the whirlwind. Or maybe he is the whirlwind. It's hard to tell," she said and followed the tiny blue specks as they danced around them.

"So, set your phaser to stun and knock the guy out," Wade said.

"Can't. Don't you feel how charged the air is? Why don't you whack him over the head with one of your oversized vegetable knives?"

"I'll guess I'll have to save the day…again," he replied and drew both his swords.

Wade approached the howling wall at a leisurely pace, swinging his blades about like a pirate. Blitz thought she could hear him sing "Here I come to save the daaay!"

He turned his head towards them and gestured at the wall. Blitz nodded. Wade swung at the sand, chopped down and sliced upwards. He stalked shadows in the sand stabbing whenever he thought he saw something.

"How's he doing?" Wraith asked.

"He's not even close," Blitz replied and grinned. Turning to Dukes she said," When I say 'Now', you hit that wall with solid right hook, ok?"

Dukes nodded and approached the whirling sand that was now only a few feet away. Blitz concentrated on tracking the little specks of light through the sand. She raised her hand.

"Now!"

Dukes swung his giant fist into the wall and connected with something solid. There was a loud crack and then the whirlwind crumpled inwards, the fine sand falling down on them like snow. At Duke's feet lay a dark-skinned boy of no more than seventeen. His skull had caved in on the left side. Zero knelt down beside him and touched the kid's neck. When he got up he stuffed something in his pocket. Blitz made a mental note of it and filed the information away.

"Holy shit!" Chris said.

"Well done," said Blitz. "Good job to you too, Wade. You put on quite a show," she hollered across the expanse that separated them. He did not look happy. Blitz could tell by the rude gestures he flung her way.

"Hey Dukes, are y-."

"I see a caravan! Over there! Our ticket outta here!" Wraith bellowed, cutting Blitz short.

Blitz shielded her eyes and there, on the horizon, was a long row of camels and men in dresses.

"Well, riding camels has always been a dream of mine," she said.


	5. Chapter 5 Welcome to the Jungle

_A/N: __Sorry for the delay guys! But since I quit my job I haven't been bored enough to write as much as I did before, which is ironic since I now actually have more time to write:P I also apologize for the suckiness of the chapter, I promise the next one will be better and hopefully posted faster!_

**Chapter Five – Welcome to the Jungle**

The caravan had eventually led them back to civilization, where Stryker had been checked out and they had acquired a new chopper. The ride to the village in the jungle had been uneventful, compared to their last time in a chopper. They had been dropped off in the midst of the jungle, and the helicopter had returned to their preliminary base in Sokoto.

Blitz felt like a hundred thousand ants were marching across her bare skin. The humidity was worse, or better, than she remembered from her previous engagements. Even with her gloves on Blitz had a hard time keeping her powers in check. Every fibre of her body was screaming at her to let go, and she found the idea increasingly alluring. She blinked sweat out of her eyes and listened to the natural buzzing of the jungle, her body humming in return. Everywhere she looked little blue lights flashed into existence, then winked out as animals disappeared deeper into the jungle. Running as far way from her as they could.

The heat was oppressing. A sheen of sweat covered them all, gleaming in the sunlight that filtered through the canopy. They were nothing but walking super-conductors to her. And all she had to do to light this jungle up like the fucking Fourth of July was to take her gloves off. _It would be so easy. Zero and Victor, poof, gone._

"Agent, you're up front," Stryker commanded.

"Agent!"

"Agent Blitz!"

Blitz swung her head around, climbing out of her daze with some difficulty. Sweat covered Stryker's face and it had turned a deep maroon in colour.

"What, sir?"

"You're scouting ahead, agent. Can you manage that?"

"Yes, sir," Blitz said and saluted.

"Alone," Stryker added and looked at Dukes. "No offense soldier, but you don't look like the stealthy kind."

_So I can have an accident, Stryker? I bet Victor and Zero told you all sorts of lies about the crash. And you believed them willingly._

"Stealthy as a bull in a store full of china, sir," Dukes replied and moved up alongside Blitz.

"You're boots are untied," she said.

As he bent down Blitz decided, in a fraction of a second, to try out a part of her ability she had wanted to test for a long time. His head came level with her hand and she stretched it out and touched his temple, sending a trickle of her power into his brain. Dukes grunted and fell forward on his knee, leaves and twigs crunching under the sheer weight of him. He turned his head and met her eyes, his look unreadable. Blitz moved to the left. Dukes' eyes widened as he realized what she had done. He nodded. Blitz smiled, turned on her heel and set off into the jungle.

***

Blitz felt that something was wrong the minute she saw the village. There were no soldiers there, and not a single weapon in sight. She brought her walkie-talkie up to her mouth.

"All clear on my end, sir," she said and waited for his reply.

"We'll be there in 30, agent," Stryker said and then the radio went silent.

***

The first one to arrive was Dukes. He lumbered out of the jungle, heading straight for her, on his face an unreadable expression. He stopped right in front of her, loomed over her. Blitz looked up and met his eyes.

"You and Ah are goin' have a talk about boundaries when this is over. You could've asked," he said, his eyes dark.

"I know. I'm so sorry. But I'm in a desperate situation and I hate it and I'm trying to put some safety measures in place. If you just want to stay the hell out of it, I understand and I'll take it away right now," Blitz said, terrified that he would say yes.

"You know Ah don't turn my back on a damsel in distress. This," he pointed at his head," ain't goin' to change that."

Blitz realized she'd been holding her breath and exhaled in relief. She was safe for now.

Twigs snapped and leaves rustled behind them as the rest of the team emerged from the jungle. Stryker frowned when he saw them and turned to say something to Zero and Victor. They trotted off and Blitz followed them until they disappeared among the trees. Wraith, followed by Chris, walked over to them and leaned casually against a tree.

"Dude, you're like a walking compass," he said to Dukes, "you went straight like an arrow."

"Yeah, you're pretty good at navigating a jungle for a Texan," Chris added.

Dukes shrugged, "Her smell is pretty rank…I don't think she's showered in a while. You don't need to be a bloodhound to follow that scent." He grinned and elbowed her in the shoulder.

"Dude, you smell way worse than me," Blitz said and shook her fist at him.

"If you are done chit-chatting, we have work to do," Stryker said and motioned for them to follow him.

All the village men had been rounded up and gathered in the middle of the village. The team had them surrounded and Stryker was interrogating the village chief, with the help of Wade, who, to everyone's surprise, spoke the local language.

_A man of mystery_, she thought and shook her head. This whole thing felt wrong.

The chief did not seem to know anything about what Stryker was after, or he appeared not to know. They exchanged some more heated words and then Stryker, and Wade, lost his patience and shit hit the fan. Wade had his swords out in the blink of an eye and Victor and Zero joined him in the slaughter moments later. Blitz positioned herself on the path that led down to the huts where the women and children were. She closed her hands hard around the handles of her knives and eased them out of the sheaths. The familiar humming filled her ears. She could do enough damage now, even with the gloves on. _Can't take them off or they're all dead._

And then something horrible happened.

Logan deserted.

Blitz felt like torrents of glacial water were racing through her veins and her guts had suddenly turned into a hard, heavy lump. For the first time since she joined the team Blitz felt utter and absolute fear. As Logan vanished in the shadows among the trees, rage exploded inside Victor's skull and she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the electric blaze of his anger. Victor's synapses were firing like a wildfire that would only grow in size, unless it was contained and controlled. And the only one who could really do that had now turned his back on them all.

_Fuck! What the hell do I do now? I'm gonna have to rely on Stryker. He has to play by the rules or people high up are going to start asking questions, unpleasant questions, and he knows it. I am general Winters' daughter after all. _But somehow that thought didn't seem comforting. Fear still held a tight grip on her guts and sent thousand little spiders racing up her spine. Her mouth felt dry. She turned her head and looked at Dukes. Shock was written across his face and beneath it something that resembled worry. _Will you still have my back, partner?_

"We will deal with him later," she heard Stryker say through the humming and thumping of blood in her ears. "Victor, you are now Captain. Let's go question the women. They'll be a lot easier to crack."

A very unpleasant smile spread across Victor's bestial face. As they approached Blitz and the path she was blocking one of the village men jumped up and started pouring out words that were unintelligible to Blitz. Stryker looked at the man and then at Wade, who gave him to thumbs up. Stryker turned on his heel and they gathered around the blabbering man instead. Blitz relaxed and let go off her knives. The humming stopped. _Should've kept your mouth shut, fool. But thanks. _They were distracted. All thoughts of revenge and murder had been replaced by greed and excitement. For now. When the man was done talking, Wade tied him up. Stryker waved his hand and the team made their way into the jungle again, Wade pushing the village man ahead of them. The trek through the jungle only lasted a couple of hours and was uneventful. Blitz and Dukes brought up the rear and walked together in silence. They almost walked straight into Wraith and Chris before realizing that they were there. Wherever "there" was.

Blitz walked up to Stryker and looked at what had caught his attention. It was a crater, roughly 15 feet wide. At the bottom lay a lump of bright, silvery metal, laced with black.

"So this is what we're looking for?" she asked.

"Yes," Stryker responded," it's an important part of a special alloy my branch is working on. It will revolutionize…everything!"

Blitz realized she had caught Stryker in a rare mood, a state of mind where he was not suspicious of her. It felt like the good old times.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked, her voice light and optimistic.

"Well, we find more of course. Now that you've all seen it, you can find it on your own. When we get back to the base you'll all be given new assignments," he replied.

***

Dukes and Blitz were sent to Asia to collect more of the metal stuff they had found in the jungle. Stryker had also given the order to "recruit, capture or kill" any other rogue mutants they came across. Blitz had been fine with the killing. Some mutants could not be reasoned with and were a danger to themselves and others. The capturing, however, reeked of something rotten. So she deliberately failed at it and claimed that they all managed to get away or were killed. They spent a year travelling the Asian continent, following rumours of people doing weird things and people finding weird things, especially metals that were of unknown origins. That year travelling together in foreign and exotic places also brought Dukes and Blitz closer together. And after a night out in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur the two ended up on a hotel room together, very drunk, very friendly. It was a night none of them would easily forget.

Blitz woke up with a massive headache, but feeling more relaxed than she had in a very long time. She yawned, stretched and turned her head, only to find Dukes sleeping next to her, letting out little grunts now and then. _Shit! We didn't..? _ Blitz lifted the covers. No clothes. _Damn_.

"Lookin's free, touchin's gonna cost ya," Dukes suddenly said and Blitz snapped the covers down, feeling an unfamiliar heat rise in her cheeks. She avoided Dukes' gaze.

"So, what do you want for breakfast, darlin'?" he then asked.

Blitz finally faced him, a look of surprise on her face. "Darlin'? Dukes, this was just a one time, drunken mistake. It won't happen again. Are we clear on that?"

Dukes frowned, then shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure it's goin' to happen again. You're mine now," he said and grinned, before quickly leaning over and kissing her softly, his hand caressing her cheek. Blitz, before she realized what she was doing, threw her arms around him and kissed him back. He stopped, looked down at her and smiled. "See?"

Blitz grabbed the cover and rolled out of bed. She looked at him for a long while. A smile spread slowly across her own face. "Fine...but no holding hands and acting like teenagers!" She said and put on her clothes, which lay scattered across the room.

"I can live with that. Where are you going?" he asked when she got dressed and moved towards the door.

"To get some newspapers and breakfast," she smiled and slipped out the door.

Blitz hurried through the hallway and down the stairs and came out on a jam-packed street. There were people everywhere and the heat was oppressing. She located the news vendor after a couple of minutes of looking over people's heads and scouting the alleys. She picked up the New York Times and some other American newspapers that were only a few weeks old. She paid the man in the booth and turned to walk back to the hotel. She was a few steps from the front door when someone grabbed her from behind, pulled a black hood made of a fabric she could not recognize over her head, bound her hands and feet and tossed her into something that felt and sounded like a van. Someone, a man judging by his voice, leaned over her and whispered into her ear.

"It's so good to finally see you again, Blitz. I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

Blitz stiffened and it suddenly seemed very cold outside. She recognized his voice. _Fuck! You better find me, Dukes..._


	6. Chapter 6 Something Hits the Fan

_A/N: Again, sorry for late upd__ate and the quality of it. The next one will be better, I swear it! But here, at least, is a picture of Agent Blitz:_

_Tattersail dot deviantart dot com/art/Agent-Blitz-140550343_

* * *

**Chapter Six – Something Hits the Fan**

An hour after Blitz had left the hotel room someone knocked on the door. Dukes rolled out of bed and wrapped a sheet around his hips. He strode over to the door, pulled it open to find a very short, dark-skinned man in uniform, holding a silver tray with an envelope on it.

"Telegram for you," the man said in heavily accented English.

Dukes took the envelope and the man bowed and returned downstairs. He opened the envelope while closing the door. Inside was a single sheet of paper covered with big, black letters.

BLITZ CALLED AWAY ON URGENT MISSION. STOP. RETURN TO HQ AS PLANNED. STOP. YOU WILL BE DEBRIEFED THERE. STOP.

STRYKER. FULL STOP.

Dukes read the message several times. He thought it was weird that she had been called away so fast, but a soldier's life is weird sometimes. Well, he'd been given an order, and Dukes always followed orders. He was ever a loyal soldier, was Dukes. _Just don't get yourself killed now, kid._ He folded the note and left it on the bedside table. He got dressed and went out to score some breakfast.

***

When Dukes arrived at Stryker's HQ a couple of days later Blitz was not there, and none of the other team mates had seen her since they all split up. Dukes rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. He approached Stryker, saluted and then straightened to his full height. Stryker looked like a kid next to him, something that clearly made him a little uncomfortable.

"Anything I can do for you, Dukes?" the general asked, trying not to crane his neck while still maintaining eye contact.

"Where's agent Blitz?" Dukes said, leaving out the ever-present "sir".

"She's still on a mission. We don't expect her back for a couple of weeks, at least."

"Where is she?"

"That's classified information. But since the two of you are partners I'll let this one slide. She's in Congo. There's a group of mutants holed up in the jungle there, harassing the locals. It seemed she was the one best suited to contain the situation."

Dukes answered the reply with a short nod, turned on his heel and rejoined the rest of the group. _Contain the situation? You mean kill them all. Send her in like a fuckin' butcher._ Dukes shook his head. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Like there was something he was missing. _I'm missing her._ But it wasn't just that she was gone physically, she was gone completely. Whatever Blitz had done to him in the jungle had stopped working. Recently. _Where the hell are you, Blitz?_

He looked up just in time to see Wade strutting over.

"Now, where's that sweet, little partner of yours?" he said, looking around and behind Dukes.

Dukes shrugged, his glower a clear sign to everyone else but Wade that he didn't want to be bothered.

"Aaww, you two had a falling out? How...shocking!"

Someone grabbed his arm as he balled his hand into a giant fist. Dukes looked down and saw Wraith shaking his head. "It's not worth it, man". Dukes stepped down and let his arms dangle by his sides.

General Stryker cleared his throat and the debriefing began.

"Gentlemen, phase 1 of my plan is complete. I must commend all of you on your great work and the effort you have put into this. This past year has been a great success, much thanks to you. You will now have a week off until we start phase 2. Thank you."

_That was not a debriefing. That was him telling us to mind our own business and do as we're told.__ What the hell is going on?_ Dukes thought while leaving the HQ. He could tell by Wraith and Chris's expressions that they were thinking much the same thing. Victor and Zero seemed quite pleased, which made his scalp all tingly, and Wade seemed more pre-occupied with whatever Phase 2 was. _Probably bad news._

_***_

_One week later._

Dukes had spent his week off eating, sleeping and hanging out with Wraith and Chris. And he had tried hard not to think about Aurora, but it hadn't gone very well. The fact that she was not in his head still troubled him. If she was in the jungles of Congo, her presence should be a blazing beacon in his head, but it wasn't. _Conclusion: She's not in Congo. _It was unlike Dukes to question his superiors, but it was also unlike him to care this much for another person. He cared for his country and not much else.

Wraith and Chris walked alongside him, on their way to the HQ for a briefing on Phase 2. They were talking about something in hushed voices, and laughing a little now and then. Chris nudged Dukes and said:

"So, how was it?"

"How was what?" Dukes asked, a confused look on his face.

"C'mon, man," Wraith said, "You know what we're talkin' about. You've acted like a lovesick puppy the entire week."

Chris and Wraith laughed and elbowed each other in the ribs.

"So, how was it?" Chris repeated.

"Surprisinly gentle," Dukes replied and grinned.

The three men laughed all the way into the HQ.

***

Everything went downhill from there. Phase 2 was initiated, and the team was sent out to collect research material, which really meant mutants to be used as lab rats. They were captured and then transported to a facility on an island, hidden right under everyone's noses. Dukes followed orders as always, but was sickened each time he dropped another subject off at the facility. When he walked among the cages he kept his eyes firmly at a point straight ahead, and never looked to the sides. Sometimes, someone would bang their fists against the glass walls of their cages and call out for help. He always ignored them, especially when the voices sounded familiar. And when he left the facility to collect more mutants he never looked back. He couldn't bring himself to look back.

Two months after Phase 2 had begun, Agent Blitz received a dishonourable discharge from the military on accounts of being a rogue and killing civilians in Congo. She was subsequently outlawed by General Stryker, and the order was given that she was to be captured, or killed if she failed to comply, like any other "untamed" mutant.

This proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

***

It was dark outside, and the air slightly chilly. The cramped space and the sound from the chopper's rotors reminded Dukes of the time when he first met Aurora. Had he known what he knew now, he would never have tossed her into that building, but slung her over his shoulder and run. They could have hidden somewhere. In the jungle, where no one would dare touch them. Wraith and Chris sat opposite him, their heads bowed, hands resting on their knees. The past few months had been hard on them, and it shoved. Chris's face was constantly pale and drawn, and Wraith had lost the gleam in his eyes. They were close to their breaking points. Dukes thought he had passed his. He no longer cared about following orders, he felt ashamed to be a part of Stryker's plans and all he could think about was doing something unthinkable. Something that went against everything he stood for.

Wraith lifted his head a fraction and looked at Dukes with dark, dark eyes.

"Chris and me are leaving," he simply said, knowing full well this gave Dukes the right to capture or kill them.

"Are you in?" he added without blinking.

Dukes sighed. This felt right, although it was so wrong. He pushed his principles aside and nodded. Relief washed over him. It would end tonight.

"We need to leave now, before they suspect anything," Wraith said and stood up, revealing the parachute strapped to his back. He handed one over to Dukes, but Dukes doubted it would do much good, maybe just slow his descent a little. But it didn't matter. He strapped the chute on and nodded. Wraith gestured towards the door, Dukes ripped it off and then hurled himself into the unending darkness of the night. Below him waited the Nevada desert. _I am free now. And I will find you, Aurora. I will find you._


	7. Chapter 7 Oh Dukes, where art thou?

**Chapter Seven – Oh Dukes, where art thou?**

The ride in this second van seemed to last forever. The plane ride had been short in comparison, but it was only because they were drawing ever nearer to the final destination point. Blitz grew colder, and sweatier, by the second. There were two other people in the van; the driver and the one who had his boot firmly placed on her head. The pressure only grew the further they went along. Blitz had not needed an introduction to know who the man was. She could tell by the size of his boot, the sound of his breathing and his pungent, beast-like smell. Her surviving the duration of the journey was not guaranteed. She tried to roll into a better position, and take the weight off of her shoulder and hip, but the boot stopped her.

"Lie still, maggot," Creed said and pressed his heel down on her cheek.

"Fuck you, asshole!" Blitz replied.

Creed laughed, and kicked her in the kidneys, which she would never have allowed had her hands not been tied behind her back, and gloved. Blitz decided to keep her mouth shut. A ruptured organ would not be ideal right now. She would need all her strength for when the van finally stopped.

After another two hours, if her internal clock was anything to go by, the van slowed down, and stopped. Creed removed his foot form her head, opened the sliding door and jumped out. He then grabbed her by the feet and dragged her out of the van. She fell to the ground with a thud, and moaned a little as the asphalt cracked against her ribs. Creed picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, which dug into her stomach. His undulating walk to wherever it was they were going nauseated her, but throwing up didn't seem like the best idea. Creed didn't care about her well-being at all, as her head constantly bumped into things, making tiny black spots dance before her eyes. The undulating motion got worse, and his shoulder dug deeper and deeper into her stomach. Blitz guessed that he was now taking her down several flights of stairs. They were going deep. _Shit. Makes it harder to get out._

When the hood was finally removed from her head, Blitz found herself in a glass cage tied to a plastic chair, which was bolted to the concrete floor. Her hands were still cuffed and gloved and her hair clung to her skull. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did, she kinda wished she had stayed half blind. Creed's ugly face loomed over her, and on his thin lips was a smug, horribly satisfied smile. Then out from behind him stepped General Stryker. She blinked in surprise, having hoped that he was somehow not involved in this, and it felt like the air had just been taken out of her. Betrayal burned in her eyes and she looked down. This was worse than she had expected.

"You can't keep me here for long. People will come looking for me," Blitz said and looked up, meeting Stryker's cold eyes.

He simply shrugged and looked at Creed, whose smiled widened. It felt like ice water was trickling down her back.

"My father's gonna start asking questions."

Stryker shook his head. "I'm afraid your father suffered a terrible accident, dear Aurora. I'm so sorry for your loss." He folded his hands and adopted a sombre look.

Rage boiled her blood, ate through the veins and seeped into her system. Sweat bubbled out of her skin, covering it in a conductive film. She strained against the ropes and handcuffs, the metal digging bloody gashes into her skin. The bolts grating against the concrete.

"And the rest won't look for you, since you're being outlawed soon, after having been sent on a fake mission, that is. In a couple of weeks I will declare you killed while resisting capture. So, you see, we can keep you here as long as we like."

Blitz screamed then. The scream erupted from deep down in her belly and tore itself free from her throat and took with it walls she had spent years building up. Electricity coursed along her exposed skin, charging the air, making their hair lift from their scalps. Her hands burned and her breath crackled as she exhaled.

Stryker's eyes widened as he received little shocks, like touching metal after shuffling feet across a carpet, which grew in intensity. He and Creed both backed away and then raced to the door, which was cleverly concealed as a seemingly seamless part of the glass wall. The energy unleashed left her numb and exhausted, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

***

Some time passed before Blitz regained consciousness. She woke to a throbbing, aching head and Creed's butt-ugly face. He had been joined by Zero, his face blank as always.

"I see you brought your boyfriend," she said, "how sweet."

Zero's fist caught her right in the temple, the force from the blow knocked her to the side. She put her weight into it, and heard the satisfying sound of metal grating against concrete.

"C'mon, Zero. You know I'm just kidding. You used to like that, back when we were friends. Whatever happened to us?" Blitz said while righting herself. She looked at Zero and smiled. It seemed to unnerve him a little. Leaning back, her smile grew. Creed shook his head and bared his teeth.

"We were never friends," he spat.

"Maybe not. But we were partners, and that should count for something, don't you think?" Blitz cocked her head and stared right at him.

Zero looked at Creed, who shrugged. He returned his attention to Blitz. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that when you're going to do what you came here to do, at least untie my hands. Is it too much to ask for a fair fight?"

"Traitors don't get to ask for anything," he said, on his face a look of cruel expectation.

"I never betrayed anyone! I followed orders just like you. I followed them damn well, and you know it," she blurted out, feeling her anger rise.

"Then how come your father tried to prevent Stryker from getting the adamantium? How come your father asked the board to have us shut down? Doesn't matter now. You're a liability and a pain in the ass, and this is how Stryker deals with people who might get in the way of his plans."

_What the fuck is adamantium?_ She thought, but didn't bother to ask. _You shouldn't have done that dad. Getting in his way like that. But don't worry, I'll finish this for you._

Creed nodded and cracked his knuckles.

"We're just supposed to collect your DNA, for the Weapon XI project, but no one will think twice of it if we have to subdue you in the process," Zero said and the corner of his lip twitched a little. He balled his hands into fists, the rubber gloves creaking.

Behind him Creed straightened and grinned. _I thought the Weapon project was shut down ages ago_, she thought and braced herself. _No wonder he wants us out of the way. That shit was shut down for a reason._ The first punches cracked her lower lip and broke her nose, and whipped her head back. Blitz let her body follow the punches, relaxed her muscles so her weight rocked the chair. _A few more, just a few more now_, she though and felt the taste of iron in her mouth. Her face was warm and wet from the nose down. The barrage of blows did not let up, and it was getting harder and harder to focus, to concentrate. A mean right hook from Creed split her eyebrow open, whipped her head back with such force that the bolts were torn free from the concrete. The chair fell backwards and Blitz followed it. She rolled to her feet, half blinded by blood, and slipped out of the ropes that tied her arms. She jumped and brought her cuffed hands under her feet and forwards, and was no longer helpless or subdued. She bared her bloody teeth at them, grabbed the chair and broke it against Creed's back. He stumbled to his knees and Blitz used that window of opportunity to launch herself at Zero. She would need to get rid of him before he could even try to tackle Creed. Besides, her ability needed a little time to charge and she wanted to make sure Creed boiled inside his own skin. Zero's eyebrows rose in surprise as her foot rose up and caught him on the side of his head, sending him tumbling to the left. Blitz followed and proceeded to kick the legs out from under him. He fell, and Blitz was by his side in the blink of an eye, reaching around his neck, using her cuffed hands as a garrotte. His eyes bulged as he tried to pry her hands away. She tightened her grip as Creed climbed to his feet and stood up as well, pulling a gurgling Zero up to his knees.

"Killing him won't help you get out of here," Creed said and moved closer.

"Probably not", Blitz replied, "but I'll be one step closer".

His teeth gleamed in the cold light and his synapses fired in short, calm rounds. He already knew how this was going to end. Blitz shivered, in spite of herself.

"You should reconsider your next move, Creed. When Dukes finds me, he will crush you if he even suspects that you hurt me."

Creed threw his head back and roared. Zero's gurgling sounded like laughter.

"Dukes won't find you, bitch. The hood you wore had a special alloy woven into the fabric that blocks you. We figured out your little trick in the jungle. The walls here are also riddled with it. Notice anything weird outside?" Creed said, and gestured to whatever was on the other side of the glass wall.

Blitz turned her head. She could see several people outside, but she couldn't _see _them. Her ability to the read the electrical charges in their brain was as non-existent. She tilted her head and looked at Creed.

"But – ",

Her question was interrupted by Zero tossing his head back, crushing her already broken nose. Her eyes filled with water, and for one heartbeat she loosened her grip on Zero. One heartbeat was all it took.

Creed strode over, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head against the glass wall. Behind him, Zero dry heaved before getting up. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket, bared his teeth in a vicious smile, and then jammed the needle into her neck. A short stab of pain and then Creed dropped her. She feel to the floor and stayed there, gulping down big lungfuls of air.

The two of them headed for the concealed exit, but just before they left, Zero turned and said,

"We'll be back."

Lying on the floor, body broken and bleeding, Blitz regretted her actions. Her father was dead, her mother..._who knows?_ Dukes was unable to find her, and she was alone, trapped, and the future looked oh so bleak. _And now I've made Zero angry. He will make me pay for what I did, and Creed will come along because he enjoys it. _Lying on the floor, body broken and bleeding, Blitz felt like crying.


	8. Chapter 8 A Glimmer of Light

_A/N: Here's me crossing my fingers for more regular updates! I'm sorry for the delay, and thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it._

**Chapter Eight - A Glimmer of Light**

After awhile the days seemed to blur together in Blitz's mind. The regular beatings seemed like one prolonged torture session that only grew worse. Creed and Zero took her increasing apathy, and lack of response, as a personal insult, and worked harder and harder to make her scream. It all culminated when they figured out how she healed. They would break her arms and legs, cut her up and beat her senseless, and then come back the next day or sometimes only hours later, and do it all over again. Having her nearly healed arm broken again was more painful than anything she'd ever experienced, and in the beginning she howled. She didn't know how long she'd been there, the days were all the same, and she feared she was going insane. _Maybe that's not such a bad thing? _If she was crazy then she wouldn't know that she was trapped, wouldn't understand that there was no way out for her. _Well, there's one way…_But death wouldn't greet her anytime soon. Creed and Zero, for all their animal brutality and cruelty, were not stupid and knew just when to stop. And Zero had also, without being aware of it, disengaged her own killswitch by supergluing her gloves to her hands. With them on, she had no possibility of overloading and short-circuiting her own brain. Nor theirs. Which was the point of the whole thing. Fortunately for her, Zero was too big a coward to take off his own gloves. The two of them avoided touching her skin like she had the plague, which was why the violence never had turned…sexual. Something she was grateful for, having heard numerous stories about Creed's appetites.

***

It was a day like any other. Creed and Zero had left but an hour ago, and she lay on the floor, blood pooling around her trembling body. They had had a bad day, and their frustrations had left their signs all over her. She felt broken to her very core, her limbs brittle, and her sanity fragile. Blitz was sure she was standing on the edge now, staring into the abyss, and in awhile the abyss…would stare back. She would meet its gaze unwavering, and welcome the cold as an old friend. She didn't know how long she had lain there, but the blood had turned cold and started to congeal around her. A sudden bloom of blue light in her brain made her raise her head and look out. Something was happening outside her glass cage. The other prisoners were agitated, some in a state of frenzy. Blitz used her arms to drag herself closer to get a better look. Her body was numb below the waist. A group of men had entered the facility, bringing with them new mutants, who would soon become new prisoners, and guinea pigs for Stryker's experiments. She sucked air in between her teeth as she recognized the blue spark that had suddenly appeared in her head, and the man that carried two mutants across his shoulders.

"Dukes", she croaked and crawled closer. _Thank God you're still working with them...but that loyalty's gonna get you killed,Dukes._

She was close enough to touch the glass now, and pushed herself up to an upright position. She leaned her forehead against the cool, smooth glass. And then Blitz screamed.

Blitz screamed for help, screamed his name, beat her fists feebly against the glass, the fractured bones creaking inside her arms, sending pain lancing up her forearms every time she moved. _Please look this way, Dukes. Please. _Dukes stumbled and turned his head. He looked her way, frowning, his brows knit together. He looked directly at her, but saw right through her. Shaking his head he continued on. Behind him came Creed. He looked her way, shook his head and bared his teeth in a smug grin. _You bastards! You goddam bastards! _She could see out, but they couldn't see in. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back.

***

Eventhough the next beating exceeded everything that had come before, Blitz had decided that death was not an option, insanity was not an option. The only option that was acceptable, was escape. And revenge. Seeing Dukes had kickstarted her heart, and made her realize that she wanted to get out, to see him again, more than anything else in the world. And apathy would not aid her in that quest. _I need to feel...everything. I need that anger._

The time in between the regular torture sessions was spent tugging at her gloves and thinking of ways to escape. The glue had been worn away somewhat by sweat and blood, and she thought she would be able to tear them off soon. The skin would heal, eventually. Blitz had sort of made a plan. _Wait until they're occupied with something else. Away on business maybe? Then get the fuck outta here._

The getting the fuck outta there-part was the most challenging. There was a door in the cage, but it was well hidden, and could only be opened by the right thumb print. She didn't think she would be able to steal Creed's thumb, that had suicide mission written all over it. There was really only one other option left. _Break the cage. _Only she wasn't quite sure how. A concentrated shock wave might shatter it, but there was no way to be sure. For all she knew this could be alon glass, able to withstand the impact of several 50 cal. rounds. She could melt it, however, if she'd been able to focus the energy and direct the heat where she wanted it. But hers was a raw and brutal power. It was instinctive and lacked finesse. Useless, unless she found a way to control it.

Several days went by before Blitz finally got a small window of opportunity. Another prisoner had managed to escape and the facility was in a state of disarray. Stryker had sent Creed and Zero after the escaped prisoner, a stroke of luck she thought was almost too good to be true. But Blitz wasted no time mulling over the why's of the matter, she sprang into action and was over by the far wall of the cage in a heartbeat. She started working on her gloves, the plan would not work if they didn't come off. The superglue was still quite effective, but her will to survive, her need for revenge was stronger. She clawed at them with her fingernails, tore at them with her teeth, pulled at them until she felt as if she was about to dislocate her shoulder, and then finally! The gloves came off, and so did large amounts of skin. Blitz looked down on her hands and nearly vomited. Muscles and bone was clearly visible in several places. She quickly closed her eyes. In the days Blitz had spent preparing for this moment she'd noticed something weird. She healed faster, her skeleton had grown harder, and was much harder to break. Which had in turn infuriated Creed and Zero. But it had made her confident. If her other powers were able to adapt to extreme conditions, were able to evolve, why not the power that was a part of her every cell, the power that was her core? This had given her an idea. She imagined the boy they had seen in the desert, he who controlled the whirlwind. She remembered the patterns the electrical charges in his brain had formed when he attacked them. She copied the pattern, she pictured the whirlwind, only this time it was not made of sand, but of blue fire, crackling loudly, charging the air, containing the power of a thunderstorm. And she fed the whirlwind with all her rage, all her pain and watched it grow.

Immense heat and pressure, and the smell of singed flesh made Blitz open her eyes. What she saw made her laugh, and blue fire shot out of her mouth, licked every patch of exposed skin and set her hair on fire. Her cage was gone. All around her was a melted ruin. Blitz stepped into freedom and the world trembled before her.


	9. Chapter 9 Reunited We Stand

**A/N: **_Here comes another apology; I'm sorry for the delay:( Real life's been a bitch lately, and I haven't found the time to write. I won't make any promises for the next chapter,hehe, seeing as how that has worked out so far:P But I will say this: the end is nigh! Sorry for not reading and reviewing as well. I will get to that, hopefully soon:) _

**Chapter 9 - Reunited We Stand**

Dukes was left confused and rather dizzy when Logan and Wraith took off to find that Remy fellow. His head throbbed, dark specks floated in front of his eyes and his ears were ringing. Logan should not have been able to do that. Toppling him was next to impossible. Yet there he was, on his ass, with a major headache to boot. A small part of him wondered how he was going to get up again. Logan's little visit, however, had confirmed a long-time fear and suspicion of his; Stryker was experimenting on mutants. The thought made his blood boil and he swore that he would make Stryker pay for what he had done to all of them. But most of all; for what he had done to Aurora. For what Dukes had let Stryker do. He had promised to find her, to save her. Instead he was hiding like a sewer rat, eating his guilt away. He could have looked harder. At least he would avenge her...when he got back into shape. Dukes bowed his head and started pulling his boxing gloves off. Some time ago, he had _felt_ a flash of light inside his skull, but having felt nothing since he had assumed that what he had felt was Aurora giving up the spark. She was dead, and maybe that was for the best, considering what Stryker was doing to the other mutants. He was sure she would have gotten a much worse treatment, especially from Victor and Zero. He tugged harder at his gloves and felt an urge to eat something...anything. The hair on his arms lifted from the skin, and there was a tingling sensation between his shoulder blades. He assumed Wraith had left the door open and thought nothing more of it, until he heard light footsteps, making their way over to him across the ring. He looked up and saw a figure standing in front of him, back lit by the lamps in the ceiling so the face was cast in shadow.

"Need some help with that?" the figure said and kneeled down.

Without the blinding light obscuring his view, he could see dark brown hair and a pair of stormy eyes peering at him from a pale face. She was thinner than the last time he had seen her, and everything that had been soft about her was now hard and unwelcoming. Her hair was longer, and the way she moved reminded him of an animal that had many enemies. But the way she looked at him had not changed and her smile still invited him in. He watched in silence as she unlaced his gloves and gently pulled them off. She laid them down at his feet and moved over to sit beside him. Dukes was sure he was hallucinating and that Logan had caused irreparable damage to his brain. But it didn't matter, because seeing her again, even if it meant that he was sliding into a coma, was worth more than a few thousand brain cells.

"Cat got your tongue?" she said, but didn't poke him in the ribs as she would normally have.

Dukes shook his head without looking at her, afraid she'd disappear if he looked too hard.

"I'm not sure what to say...I haven't done this before," he said.

"Dukes, you're not hallucinating. Your brain looks fine to me. I'm here, I'm not dead."

He turned his head and looked at her for a long time, before he stretched out a trembling hand and touched her face. He drew a deep breath and hid his face in his hands.

" I thought you were dead, Aurora," he mumbled.

"Aurora is gone. There is only Blitz now."

Her words, her tone of voice, filled his heart with dread. _What the hell did they do to you?_

"Where have you been? What happened to you?" he asked, balling his hands into giant fists.

She shrugged and hugged her knees.

"Around. The Amazon mostly. I knew I'd be safe there. From them. But I don't really wanna talk about it," she replied

Dukes let the matter lie. He didn't want to push her too far. She seemed so close to the edge.

"Why did you come back?" he finally asked and looked at her.

Her eyes widened a little and she bit her lip.

"I should have come back a long time ago. I wanted to, so much. But I was lost, and terrified and broken. I couldn't let you see me like that. But now, things have changed. Windows of opportunity have opened. And I need you," she replied, her voice thin and trembling.

Dukes felt a hard knot form in his gut, and his heart, his heart seemed ready to shatter.

"You're goin' after them," he said. She nodded and looked down.

"Logan is your window of opportunity...and you need me...for what?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes locked on his.

"What do you mean? I need you to help me with this. I can't do it alone. There's no one else," she whispered and grabbed his hand. He felt that familiar tingle as the hair lifted from his head and arms, but it was much stronger this time. His arm started twitching and she let go. Her gloved hands fell into her lap, and she stared at them, biting her lower lip.

"How can I possibly be of any help to you? Look at me!"

She did. Her eyes studied him, and took in everything that he was. It was now his turn to look down, ashamed of what he had turned into.

Blitz shook her head. "We've both changed, and maybe for the better. But I don't care about how you look. Underneath all that," she said and poked him in the gut, "you're still the man you were in the military compound in Africa, in the desert, in the jungle, in the hotel room in Kuala Lumpur. I'm hoping you're still the man who lo-, who'd ensure my safety at all costs. And I just need to know that you'll have my back this one last time."

"I am, and I will," he said leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.

_I won't let you down this time. I can't,_he thought and knew that it was true. This time he would do anything to make sure nothing bad happened to her. If he failed her again, he would be destroyed. _This is my chance to redeem myself._

She smiled and climbed to her feet. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. It seemed as if an immense burden had been lifted from her small shoulders.

"Well then. We probably have some time before Logan gets to where he needs to be. Let's put it to good use," she said and reached out a hand towards him.

"What are you proposin'?" he asked and grinned.

She shook her head, and he thought he could hear her laugh.

"This will not be like Kuala Lumpur. Get on your feet and we'll spar a little. We need to work out our dynamics."

Dukes grabbed her hand, and used the support of the ropes, to get back on his feet. He had forgotten how small she was, and now that he towered over her, that old protective feeling washed over him and filled his heart.

"Okay, little lady, lets dance."

Dukes and Blitz spent the next few days sparring, eating and sleeping, but mostly sparring. She threw everything she had at him, and every time he blocked a punch or a kick, or dodged an attack she smiled in begrudged satisfaction. But she put even more effort into the next sequence of attacks, trying ever harder to come victorious out of their pretend battles. The more time they spent in the ring, the more she focused on keeping up her physical guard, the more her mental guard seemed to slip, and Dukes learned more and more of what hid beneath the surface. He eventually learned of the death of her father, how her mother and brother wanted nothing to do with her and had moved to an undisclosed location, and he learned of her time in the Amazon. But she had still not said a single word about what had happened before that. And he did not want to push her on that particular subject. Not now when she seemed so much like her old self. She also learned things from him. What he had done since she'd disappeared, what Logan had told him, what he was after. When he told her what had happened to Zero, she had hugged him and laughed, and she'd seemed almost happy for awhile. But it was obvious that all was not well.

They had been throwing punches at each other for the last half hour when Blitz suddenly froze. Her eyes widened and all the blood left her face. Her head slowly swiveled towards the door and she stared at it, like she expected the Devil Himself to come walking through it.

"Creed," she whispered.

Dukes moved to her side and lowered his head towards her.

"What's goin' on?"

"Creed is coming. He is close. He's here for you. He's killed Wade and Chris, and now he's come for you. We need to hide!"

"No! No more hiding. We'll face him now," Dukes said and straightened.

Blitz's head swung around and what he saw in her eyes was pure terror. She shook her head violently.

"I'm not ready! I can't...it won't work without Logan! He's the only one who can handle Victor...I need time to power up-"

He could hear heavy footsteps approaching, and Blitz was now staring at him with pleading eyes. He scooped her up in his arms, climbed out of the ring and headed for the back door. Outside, in the alley was a row of dumpsters and he sprinted over to the middle one, crawled into it and closed the hatch above their heads. Blitz was like a shivering baby sparrow against his chest, and all that she had regained of her old self had disappeared in an instant.

"What the hell happened to you?" he whispered into her hair.

"Victor grabbed me outside the hotel," she mumbled, almost too low for him to hear. "He and Zero brought me to Stryker's mutant facility and locked me in a sort of two-way mirror cage."

"You were on the island the entire time?" he asked, the knot in his gut tightening.

She nodded and said "I saw you."

The knot was now a lead ball, and he found it difficult to breathe through the anger. She had been there, and he had not seen her. He could have saved her. _But I was too busy with dealing with my own guilt. I could have prevented this!_

"Did Stryker...did he experiment on you?"

Blitz shook her head. "No, he just took a sample of my blood. And then he left me to Victor and Zero..." The bitterness and pain in her voice was like a steel-clad claw wrenching his heart.

"Every day they'd come in and take out all their anger on me. They'd leave me broken and bleeding and come back the next day, even angrier than the day before. For awhile I was sure I was dead. I hoped I was," her words came out in angry little bursts, like she couldn't quite control them. "But then I saw you...and that saved me. Gave me what I needed to unleash everything I'd been working to keep in. I escaped. But the price I paid was high."

She was shaking now, and her breathing was ragged. He held her tighter, rested his cheek on her head and resisted the urge to burst out of the dumpster and strangle Victor with his bare hands. He couldn't leave her like this, and he wasn't sure he would be able to kill him. Victor was too fast, too strong for just him.

Blitz squirmed in his grip and sobbed.

"I need to get out. Confined spaces terrify me. And I can't -...I need to be in control. I can't let it slip, or I might destroy everything. And I could, you know," she said, her voice hoarse and weak.

Dukes pulled her even closer as he felt the front of his shirt get wet, and did not let go, not even when his arms started going numb, and the charged air in the dumpster made his eyes and tongue sting. Her unsettling words penetrated the familiar humming that filled his ears.

"Could what?" he asked, trying to calm her down.

"I could destroy the world. One city at the time. The Amazon permanently amped up my power, somehow, and if I let go, no place would be safe."

"But you wouldn't do that, Blitz. I know you. You wouldn't harm innocent people. We only kill the bad guys, remember?"

"No! We killed whoever Stryker told us to kill, and we knew nothing about them. He told us they were a threat, and we believed him. And we killed and killed and killed. But now that we've outlasted our usefulness it's our time to die. And that's how it always will be, with them. With those who are not like us. They'll tolerate us as long as they can use us."

"What are you saying, Blitz? This isn't you!"

"I know, I know...but I'm losing control. I'm so angry, sometimes it's really tempting to just let go. Kill all the Strykers in the world, all of them, because it hurts so much! It hurts...I just want the pain to go away."

"You have to direct that anger towards those who deserve it. And that's Creed and Stryker, and all the people who still work with him. Not the rest of the world, there's still some good left in it," he said, but his words rang untrue in his own ears. He felt like watching the world burn, for what the people in it had done to Blitz. And she was right, he had had the same thoughts when the night was at its darkest. They were different, and the normal people of the world, the humans, would always hate and fear them for that.

"First Creed, then Stryker. And it's going to be slow and painful," she said, and seemed to relax. The shivering stopped, and he regained the feeling in his arms. Something he said must have gotten through to her. He had saved her from herself. It was a small step on his long way to redemption.

"They'll get what's comin' to them," he replied.


End file.
